The Department of Justice announced Wednesday it's forming a strike force "to assess evidence" Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard raised about the "alleged weaponization of the intelligence community."
The big picture: The DOJ statement did not specify which evidence she publicized that it was responding to, but Gabbard accused former President Obama's administration earlier Wednesday of a "manipulation of intelligence" around Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The U.S. will do "whatever it takes" to lead the world in artificial intelligence, President Trump said at an AI summit in Washington Wednesday after rolling out his administration's AI action plan.
Why it matters: The AI Action Plan is focused on ensuring U.S. dominance over China and allowing companies to grow and scale quickly.
President Trump doesn't want federal government agencies to contract with former adviser-turned-foe Elon Musk's xAI, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
Why it matters: If Trump directs his administration to cut xAI out of any federal contracting, the company would miss out on huge financial opportunities with the government.
Hackers have already compromised more than 400 organizations using a recently discovered flaw in Microsoft SharePoint servers, according to researchers at Eye Security.
Why it matters: That number has raised dramatically from estimates earlier this week that hackers had only broke into about 60 government agencies, critical infrastructure entities and companies.
Publishers are racing to readjust their businesses as the threat of "Google Zero" — a world where Google no longer distributes meaningful traffic to publishers — looms large.
Why it matters: Traffic referrals from chatbots aren't expected to come close to offsetting traffic from traditional search.
OpenAI's tools are coming to Canvas, the learning platform used by more than 8,000 schools worldwide, OpenAI and ed tech company Instructure announced Wednesday.
Why it matters: OpenAI — like Apple and Google before it — is taking aim at student users because early exposure can lead to lifelong lock-in.
Astronomer, a relatively unknown dataops startup, became one of the most talked-about companies of the summer after a video of its CEO Andy Byron and chief people officer Kristin Cabot embracing during a Coldplay concert went viral.
Why it matters: It's the type of scandalous scenario that few communication teams would have in their crisis playbook.
Over the course of five days, roughly 1,400 news articles about Astronomer drove more than 125 million readers, according to Memo data shared with Axios.
Driving the news: Readership peaked around 60 million on July 18, two days after CEO Andy Byron and chief people officer Kristin Cabot were cast across the Jumbotron at a Coldplay concert.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Wednesday that AI has "enormous disruptive potential" that so far has mostly been unbeneficial for Americans.
Why it matters: Hawley has been ringing the alarm on the need for lawmakers to better regulate AI companies at a time when Congress is struggling with how to regulate the industry.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for lower-carbon data center development in a major address on climate change as the COP30 summit draws closer.
Why it matters: It signals how AI's massive energy thirst is high on the climate world's radar as hyperscalers expand infrastructure for training and use of powerful AI tools.
Archer Aviation and Anduril Industries are "deep in the work, building stuff," for their hybrid-power vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, the former's CEO, Adam Goldstein, told Axios.
Why it matters: Very little has been shared about the project, which was initially described as targeting a potential Pentagon program.
The Hill and Valley Forum sprang from an idea years ago for a 40-person get-together: four tables of 10 people discussing shared interests. Wednesday, it's cohosting an artificial intelligence summit in downtown Washington anchored by President Trump.
Why it matters: The group wields increasing influence at the intersection of policy, venture capital and American industry, including weapons production, at a time when powerful communities on the East and West coasts are getting cozy.
The Trump administration's sweeping "transparency" crusade has electrified MAGA loyalists eager to see "Deep State" officials and Jeffrey Epstein's alleged clients paraded to prison.
Now, some of President Trump's most prominent supporters say he must deliver to maintain that unity.
Why it matters: Under pressure for his handling of the Epstein case, Trump is taking a big swing at MAGA's biggest bogeymen — the supposed cabal of shadowy elites who run the country, along with its army of unelected government bureaucrats.
News stories or content generated by external sources like journalists, influencers, customers, or the general public are the top sources for AI bots like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, a new Muck Rack report finds.
Why it matters: AI is increasingly being used for search, and how a brand, company or public figure shows up in AI-generated responses could impact their ability to attract customers, investors and talent.
OpenAI is finding that financing and building the massive data centers it needs to meet its ambitions is easier said than done.
Why it matters: There's no limit on AI builders' hunger for computing capacity.
Many advances in generative AI have come from dramatically boosting the computing power applies to model training, while new approaches and increased adoption mean that running those models demands more and more data centers, too.
President Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. notched a trade agreement with Japan that would see 15% tariffs on all goods imported from one of the nation's key trade partners.
Why it matters: A U.S.-Japan trade deal would be the most significant since the White House threatened to impose sharply higher tariffs on much of the globe.
